By Breven Honda

Reaching a state championship game is no easy feat.

The last time the Virgin Valley High School girls basketball team had the chance to compete for a state title was all the back in 1993 when the school won the 2A state title.

No team in Bulldogs girls basketball program history has made a 3A state title, let alone win.

However, after beating Fernley in the state semifinals, the Bulldogs earned themselves a spot in the state championship game on Feb. 21.

“It was amazing, for sure to be there because we hadn’t been there for shoot, heck, I don’t even know, maybe 90s, 1993 maybe something like that,” said Virgin Valley girls basketball coach Koko Davis, who’s been part of the program since 2011. “Like, that was last time we actually were in. I think they won it that year, but it was at the 2A level. So, nobody had reached it at the 3A level at our school yet. It was amazing to be there.”

They faced Mater East for the fourth time this season. Virgin Valley had won two of the previous three matchups earlier in the season, including the regional title game seven days before at home.

“It’s tough, man, because they’ve seen everything that you got,” Davis said about taking on a team, like Mater East for a fourth time. “Everybody knows everything about everything. It just comes down to execution on game day.

“We’re a high scoring team. They knew they needed to keep it in a half court setting to beat us. And they did. They did a good job of that.”

With a state championship on the line, Virgin Valley took a nine-point lead about midway through the third quarter before Mater East fought back to tie the game at 41 with less than a minute to go at Cox Pavilion on the campus of UNLV.

However, the Bulldogs were unable to score, resulting in a 47-41 loss and finishing as the 3A State Runners-Up.

“It just didn’t happen,” Davis said. “Obviously nerves, we’re in there, but, I mean, we had that. We had the chance to win it.”

This came as freshman point guard Hannah Waite fouled out with about five minutes left in the fourth quarter. The team had dealt with a similar situation the night before when Waite hit her head and surrendered a 15-point lead, needing to fight back and win without the team’s leading scorer.

“She’s (averages) 14 points a game. Hannah could drop 30 again if she wants,” Davis said of Waite’s impact.

“I think it was a good builder for our girls’ program to have people excited to watch women’s basketball. It was a fun year. It was exciting the whole time, from start to finish.”

Even behind Waite, Davis knows the depth behind the freshman phenom. There were five players who averaged anywhere from five to nine points per game.

“At any given night, we can have a different leading scorer,” Davis said. “(Sophomore Maddie Wright) could be our leading scorer, which Maddie was a lot of times. (Senior Audrey Fiso), (Sophomore Ava Noel), like we have probably four or five different girls that could be our leading scorer. If you look at our points, it’s evenly spread out after Hannah.”

Despite coming up short in the state championship game, there was a lot to smile about this season. Virgin Valley went 25-8 overall and 9-1 in league play, en route won the 3A South Regional Championship for the first time in a handful of years.

“I don’t feel like we’ve ever had a season like this,” Davis said in his 14 years in the program. “I’ve had people come up to me and say, how exciting our girls are to watch. Regardless of the fact we didn’t win state, it was an exciting year for our fans. I feel like a lot of people came out that haven’t been coming out to watch girls’ games.

All season long, Davis ensured a high-tempo offense, and their work ethic full of young depth that would keep fans coming back all season.

“I feel like we outworked most teams that we played, and they just played together and trust each other,” Davis said.

The Bulldogs lose three seniors – Fiso, Natali Isidro and Anna Sedano – going into next season.

However, Davis knows that his returners will be hungry, especially knowing they were a couple of possessions away from being state champions.

“We’ll be back, man. We’re going to come back and win that sucker next year,” he said. “We’re strong, we’re solid, and we’re young.”

VVHS Boys basketball reaches playoffs before being eliminated in the regional semis

In other Virgin Valley High School basketball news, the boys’ team had another solid season. They went 15-11 overall, which included finishing in third place of the 3A South standings with a 6-4 league record.

That earned them another trip to the playoffs. The Bulldogs took down Boulder City, the second-best team from the 3A Mountain Division at their place before losing to Democracy prep in the regional semifinals.